


Fireworks Through the Years

by Angelicat2



Series: Sheith Month 2018 [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Day 4-Free day, Fireworks, Gen, M/M, Sheith Month 2018, happy fourth of july, sheithmonth2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 12:46:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15171059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelicat2/pseuds/Angelicat2
Summary: Then he joined the Garrison. The other cadets always got so excited about them, but Keith avoided the crowds. It was nothing new. But he couldn’t get past Shiro.“Where are you going?” Keith had frozen before realizing it was the older cadet who had come to his school to recruit him, “Keith.”“Out,” Keith stated from his hoverbike as he pushed his bag into one of the hidden compartments, “I need a break.”“Okay,” Shiro nodded as he pulled out two helmets from behind his back, a smile on his face, “I’m coming with.”





	Fireworks Through the Years

Keith remembers celebrating the Fourth of July with his dad when he was young. They didn’t have a lot, just a small shack out in the desert. They’d light their own handmade explosives and scatter them into the night sky. His dad always made them super flashy, so that the explosion looked more like fireworks than smoke. And he always knew what he had been doing, being a firefighter and all. He even taught Keith how to make his own, but had him promise not to make any until he was old enough to do it on his own. Keith had promised he wouldn’t.

After his dad died, Keith watched the fireworks from the group home. The adults would usually take them to the local park to see them. Keith could care less. He felt so alone, having no friends because he was the weird one. He got into fights more often than not, to the extent that even the adults had their own names for him. He hated it here. He just wanted his dad back, with their hoverbike and fireworks. He wished he could have gone back to the shack, but he’d already gotten into trouble too many times by trying to. He wouldn’t get the vehicle until about four years anyway, the property two years even further after that. 

Then he joined the Garrison. The other cadets always got so excited about them, but Keith avoided the crowds. It was nothing new. But he couldn’t get past Shiro.

_“Where are you going?” Keith had frozen before realizing it was the older cadet who had come to his school to recruit him, “Keith.”_

_“Out,” Keith stated from his hoverbike as he pushed his bag into one of the hidden compartments, “I need a break.”_

_“Okay,” Shiro nodded as he pulled out two helmets from behind his back, a smile on his face, “I’m coming with.”_

_Keith was startled for a few seconds. He finally snapped out of it when the other sent him a hopeful look. Knowing the guy, he wouldn’t push Keith if he said no._

_“You’re not going to report me?” He asked as he stared up at the taller man, “I’m sneaking off school grounds.”_

_“I can’t get mad, I used to sneak out all the time too,” he shrugged as he handed the red helmet to Keith’s open palm, “And I think I need a break too. Gets pretty crowded here, even in the summer when a lot of the cadets are gone.”_

_That’s right. Shiro also lived on campus during the summer just like Keith did. It was strange, most cadets ended up back home. But Keith couldn’t judge. He didn’t have a home to go back to until he gets his dad’s land in a year and a few months. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t take Shiro out there now._

_“Okay,” he got onto the machine, starting the red ride as he pulled the helmet on, “Hop on.”_

_“Okay.” Shiro chuckled as his own black helmet was put on, hiding his floof, “Let’s go.”_

_And they were gone into the cool night._

And then Shiro was gone. Gone like everyone else. ‘Pilot error’ is what they said it had been. Did he go up in an explosion? Did he even make the surface of Kerberos? Did they have the recording from the black box? What went down? Was the Garrison lying?

Keith had asked all those questions and more with tears pooling in his eyes.

 _I will never give up on you._

Keith wouldn’t give up on Shiro. Even if he was dead. And then Iverson got up in his face, and Keith had felt his anger grow. Shiro had been his grounding force. A hand on his shoulder would have kept him in check. A gentle phrase would have calmed him down. But both were gone. Because Shiro was gone.

So Keith had socked the older man in the eye and left. There was nothing left for him there. Just like years ago, Keith was alone again. Alone to celebrate and mourn on the Fourth of July right back at the shack like he’d wanted to so long ago. He didn’t bother lighting any explosives that night. He had pulled the supplies together, but his hands had been much too shaky, his vision too blurry. He’d only gotten halfway through them before he’d given up and collapsed onto his ratty sofa by the window. Staring into the night sky through the dirty window, he watched the stars twinkle like permanent sparklers.

Shiro had to come back. He had to. He said he’d be back.

Keith doesn’t know whether he’s talking about his dad or Shiro anymore. He just lays there on that couch for hours, staring numbly outside.

It’s years later when he’s back there, celebrating. This time, he’s actually celebrating and not feeling pain. Shiro is by his side, head on his shoulder as they watch the fireworks put off by Altean magic and human devices mixed together. Glancing down, he watches as a burst of purple lights up Shiro’s honey-grey eyes. His wolf settles around them, moving slightly in her sleep. Shiro’s silvery hair seems to glow as he stares up at the sky. Keith smiles, and Shiro turns his eyes to him with a silent question. Keith snickers as he recalls all those years being alone. 

He has Shiro now, and they were going to celebrate the Fourth of July as much as they want.


End file.
